nRF24L01 Initialization Failures

Projects Programming
1

My nRF24L01 Initialization code is failing. My code generates these diagnostics:
CE PIN: 14, CSN PIN: 15
WIFI_POWER_LEVEL=1 <<< What I want to set this to
WIFI_DATA_RATE=1
WIFI_DATA_CHANNEL=124
Radio PA Level set to: 0 <<< what value was actually set to
Radio power level not set
Radio Data Rate set to: 0 <<< what value was actually set to
Radio Data Rate not set
Radio Channel set to: 0 <<< what value was actually set to
Radio Data Channel not set
Radio Initialization FAILED

Here is ,my code:

		bool radioOK = true;


		Serial.println ( F ( "\nINITIALIZING RADIO" ) );
		Serial.print ( F ( "CE PIN: " ) );
		Serial.print ( WIFI_CE_PIN );
		Serial.print ( F ( ", CSN PIN: " ) );
		Serial.println ( WIFI_CSN_PIN );


		//	Initialize the radio
		radio.begin ();


		// Set the transmit power to lowest available to prevent power supply related issues
		Serial.print ( F ( "WIFI_POWER_LEVEL=" ) );
		Serial.println ( WIFI_POWER_LEVEL );
		Serial.print ( F ( "WIFI_DATA_RATE=" ) );
		Serial.println ( WIFI_DATA_RATE );
		Serial.print ( F ( "WIFI_DATA_CHANNEL=" ) );
		Serial.println ( WIFI_DATA_CHANNEL );


		radio.setPALevel ( WIFI_POWER_LEVEL );
		Serial.print ( F ( "Radio PA Level set to: " ) );
		Serial.println ( radio.getPALevel () );
		if (radio.getPALevel () != WIFI_POWER_LEVEL) {
			Serial.println ( F ( "Radio power level not set" ) );
			radioOK = false;
		}


		// Set the speed of the transmission 
		radio.setDataRate ( WIFI_DATA_RATE );
		Serial.print ( F ( "Radio Data Rate set to: " ) );
		Serial.println ( radio.getDataRate () );
		if (radio.getDataRate () != WIFI_DATA_RATE) {
			Serial.println ( F ( "Radio Data Rate not set" ) );
			radioOK = false;
		}


		// Use a channel unlikely to be used by Wifi, Microwave ovens etc
		radio.setChannel ( WIFI_DATA_CHANNEL );
		Serial.print ( F ( "Radio Channel set to: " ) );
		Serial.println ( radio.getChannel () );
		if (radio.getChannel () != WIFI_DATA_CHANNEL) {
			Serial.println ( F ( "Radio Data Channel not set" ) );
			radioOK = false;
		}


		if (!radioOK) {
			Serial.println ( F ( "Radio Initialization FAILED" ) );
			return false;
		}

I am using the this library: GitHub - maniacbug/RF24: Arduino driver for nRF24L01

I have swapped the RF24 Wifi Chips many times to make sure that it's not hardware related.

2

When I see
"Radio Initialization FAILED"
I first think about the capacitor.
See f.e. here: MySensors guide to connect NRF24

I had similar problems without a capacitor. Also (even if it sounds strange), on the ones with the external big antenna: it helped to put my finger on the top of the antenna while booting. Dunno why, but it worked^^

3

Have a look at this Simple nRF24L01+ Tutorial.

Wireless problems can be very difficult to debug so get the wireless part working on its own before you start adding any other features.

The examples are as simple as I could make them and they have worked for other Forum members. If you get stuck it will be easier to help with code that I am familiar with. Start by getting the first example to work

...R